Crash Bandicoot 2 - Cortex strikes back (PS4) review

Ok, once again its time for a review of something and this time its on another game (or games really), which has recently been released on the PS4 and that is the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane trilogy. This features the first three Crash games that were released on the PS1, Crash Brandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex strikes back and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.

However for this review I will be looking at Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex strikes back and we'll see after 20 years (yep its been that long) how it holds up in its PS4 visually overhauled version.

STORY 

So, to kick off I will quickly mention a little bit of the story, which won't really involve spoilers, so no spoiler warning for a change!  Anyway the story sees, the titular character, Crash Bandicoot (who is marsupial if you must know) who is abducted by the main villain of the series, Dr Cortex (voiced by Clancy Brown in the original game).  Cortex claims that he has turned over a new leaf and he wants to save the world and that he needs Crash's help.  So, Crash is sent into various parts of N.Sanity island to collect a series of crystals to contain the power of an upcoming planetary alignment in order to prevent the planet from being destroyed.

However, Crash's sister, Coco, remains suspicious of Cortex's behaviour and wonders just what his real intentions might be.....

GAMEPLAY

As for the gameplay well its pretty similar to the first game however, Crash 2 is a bit improvement over the original, which was a hugely frustrating experience to say the least as the controls and the level of difficulty left alot to be desired.  Here though, Crash here is sent through a series of warp rooms that contains portals that will take him into different locations on N.Sanity island where he will face a series of dangers but I will say more on that in a minute.

The main point however is for Crash to collect 25 crystals throughout the 25 levels in the game and 5 different warp rooms that contain 5 levels each and at the end of the 5 levels there will be a game boss to defeat before Crash can move on.  One of the main aspects of the game is of course to break open as many boxes as possible, containing wampa fruit (or apples I'd say!) and if Crash collects one hundred apples then he will get an extra life.  Crash also can access bonus rounds where he will be able to obtain more apples and boxes to boost his lives as well as deadly passage ways, which contain more boxes and jewels and they marked by a question mark.     

As for Crash's movement, it is similar to the first game where Crash can jump and perform a spin attack on his enemies either by running or jumping in the air.  This time around there are two new moves, the first of which is a body slam in which Crash leaps into the air and belly flops onto say a series of boxes that are otherwise sealed.  The other move (which I think is also the best) is the slide attack, where Crash can slide across the ground and ping enemies off the screen in a very amusing fashion!  Crash can also combine the slide with a jump that allows him to jump higher than he normally would, which is very useful jumping larger distances or for jumping to higher platforms.

Regarding the enemies of the game, they are pretty varied throughout and there are generally two types of enemy that can be dealt with either by using a sliding attack or by using the spin attack and in some cases the body slam can also be used.  The enemies however can either be animals, insects,  humans or indeed other creatures altogther!  However for the most part the enemies in the game can be easily dispatched and its more the game's mix of platforming that provides its more testing level of difficulty.

Other obstacles in the game that aren't actual enemies include explosive boxes such as TNT and Nitroglycerin, which can be precariously placed in the levels and if Crash mistimes his movement you will see him float as an angel into heaven!   The nitro boxes however can be detonated by boxes marked with an exclamation mark and these boxes are usually located elsewhere during or towards the end of a level.  There are also other marked boxes in the game such as the excalamtion mark boxes, which can be used to bring non-solid boxes into being touchable, so Crash can break them to gain more apples.   

In certain levels of the game, Crash can also ride a bear, which simply involves him jumping on the bear (after giving a rather pervy look to camera!) and the player controls the bear to make him avoid a series of obstacles while also crashing into the boxes strewn throughout the level.  Crash can also later use a jetpack in the deep space levels where he accesses a space station with zero gravity where again he has navigate his way past a series of traps and obstacles.

And lastly, similar to the first game, Crash also can receive help of the witch Doctor, Aku Aku, as his spirit is transferred into various boxes through the game and when Crash breaks the box containing the spirit, it produces a mask that floats around Crash to protect him from enemies.  And when Crash breaks open the box containing the Aku Aku spirit, it makes a cool "Ooga Booga!" sound when it does, which is great and one of my favourite things about the game.  However if Crash comes into contact with an enemy with the mask, it will cause the mask to disappear unless he picks up three masks in a row then this will make him briefly invulnerable to his enemies and he can dispatch them with ease and also break open boxes as he goes along.

GRAPHICS AND MUSIC

As for the game's graphics, well I will look at it from the PS4 stand point as that is the console I have played it on for the purpose of this review.  And it has to be said that the game's graphics look very impressive and they have been given an amazing looking overhaul from the admittedly pretty good graphics for their time of the PS1.  But here we get much richer, detailed environments and the characters all look great and the detail extends down to even the wamp fruit boxes that you can even see the fruit inside them as before this is something in the PS1 you would never have caught onto.  So, overall the game looks superb in its visual update.

Moving onto the game's music, well it is the same score, which has basically been remastered and updated and was composed by Josh Mancell, who does a pretty good job here and his theme for Crash is pretty memorable.  So, overall this is a very good score and it features many cheerful, upbeat and fun tracks throughout that suit the game's tone perfectly well.

FLAWS

As for flaws....well yeah Crash 2 does have some it has to be said.

And for me one of the most annoying things was to do with some of the controls and certain sections of levels where I found myself dying too easily.  And this would come down to silly things such as sections where Crash has to jump over an platform that has water underneath it and if you mistime it, then Crash will fall into the water and drown.  And it is far too easy to keep losing lives doing these bits, which can leave you tearing your hair out!  In fact why didn't Crash just learn how to swim??!

Another issue is probably to do with the at times inconsistent levels of difficulty as some levels are really tough but others pretty straight forward and manageable.  The main difficulties with the game simply come with its series of tricky obstacles and/or Crash having to backtrack over dangerous areas, so he can collect the final boxes that he needs to gain all the boxes in that level.  And because of all this it makes building up lives difficult in the game whereas in Crash 3 you can easily build up extra lives given that, well, the game's difficulty level is a fair bit easier. 

And further to this point there are also some really frustrating levels also, particularly the ones that involve Crash being chased by the big bear as he races his way through the level and breaks the boxes along the way.  However, Crash in these levels has to overcome obstacles such as dodging explosives and other animals such as lizards (who you can all too easily be killed by if you mistime your attack on them!).  Also in these levels, Crash can also fall to his doom as he can fall down big chasms if he isn't careful or get himself electrocuted by electric fences unless he does a slide move to get underneath them.  So, yeah these are the worst levels for me.

Another problem I found with the game and indeed with Crash 3 (I haven't played the first one yet) is that you are subjected to fairly long loading times in between levels either when entering or exiting a level.  So, this was for me a bit of annoyance as it would have been great if they could have found a way to speed up the loading times as I don't recall them being that slow on the PS1 but then again the graphics and architecture of that console are a far less sophisticated.

You could also argue that while the game has been given a complete visual overhaul, you can't but help realise that you are also playing a 20 year old game, so in that respect the gameplay mechanics do feel pretty dated.  So, while Activision and Vicarious visions deserve kudos for bringing the game(s) back here, you are still essentially playing a game that lacks the innovations of what has come since then in terms of gameplay and controls.

Another problem was to do with the use of the Aku Aku masks as you tend to get one after you lose a few lives to help you out.  However there are times where the distribution of these masks is a bit inconsistent and there are times where you feel you could really do with getting one of these masks but you don't even after losing a few lives.  And this was also noticeable during one of the game boss battles where it would have come in handy to get an Aku Aku mask to help out.

And last of all one of the biggest problems with the game for me was just how ridiculously EASY the last game boss is!!  I mean Crash 2 is a pretty tough game overall and you have to navigate through some very tricky levels to get to the final boss, which is of course Dr Cortex but your fight with him is just pathetic.  I mean all Crash needs to do is chase after Cortex in space using a jetpack and launch a spin attack on him three times and that's him defeated yet some of the other bosses were much tougher than that!  So, you think they could at least save the toughest obstacle for Crash to get through till the last but nope, its a stupefyingly easy boss fight!  Ah-well, hey ho, perhaps they were trying to make up for any prior frustration the game levels caused but its still ridiculous all the same.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summing up, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back is great fun and is a big improvement over the deeply frustrating original, which I have to admit I haven't even bothered to play on the PS4 yet!  Here we get a great mix of platform action, traps and dangerous obstacles for Crash to overcome, not to mention a very impressive visual overhaul for the PS4 as well as a fun soundtrack.

And, yes, the game is not perfect in part due to its inconsistent difficulty levels and some issues with the controls and one or two other gameplay irks.  However if you can forget all that then, Crash 2 is definitely a game you can enjoy and return to and it still remains a pleasure to play after 20 years.

Right, so that's it for now and I will return soon with my review of Crash 3 Warped.

Till, then its bye for now.

Ooga-Booga!!